Buccaneer Quotes, Nov. 1

CB Darrelle Revis discusses the process that is bringing him back from last year's knee injury to his well-established style of play, and more thoughts from One Buc Place on Friday

When the Buccaneers traded for former New York Jet Darrelle Revis in April, they were bringing in perhaps the best cover cornerback of his generation. They were also bringing in a player who was in the process of recovering from a season-ending knee injury the previous September. After acquiring Revis, the Buccaneers also signed him to a new six-year contract, expecting to reap the benefits of his rare talents for many seasons to come.

The rarest of Revis' talents is his ability to press and shadow any given receiver, often taking him almost completely out of the offensive game plan. When Revis could be seen playing less of this type of coverage than he had in the past, that raised some questions as to how the Buccaneers' coaching staff was utilizing his skills. On a radio show on Thursday night, Revis addressed that issue, revealing that he did not feel like he had the stamina and explosiveness in his surgically-repaired knee to play a significant amount of press coverage at the beginning of the season. He elaborated on those remarks Friday after the Buccaneers' last practice of the week.

“Just like I said on the radio last night – it’s the plays that if a guy is running you off four or five times, you need those reps, you need that build up," he said. "I wasn’t getting that, I wasn’t feeling comfortable even running from press coverage to go. It’s just something that’s going to take some time.”

“It’s a process; it’s a process that you’ve got to go through. Sometimes it takes a while, but it’s a process. I’m not all the way there yet, but you’ve got to change your game up and that’s what I had to do. “

-- CB Darrelle Revis played a larger amount of press coverage in the Bucs' last game

Revis has gradually played more press coverage as the season has progressed and he's gained strength and confidence in his knee. That was particularly true in the Bucs' last outing, when he helped hold Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith to four catches for 42 yards.

“I’m getting back to myself," said Revis. "The last game I pressed Steve Smith every chance I got, so I’m getting there. It’s a process. I just have to keep on strengthening my leg and getting stronger. I feel good. I’m just going to keep on continuing to do what I do and keep on just getting my legs stronger.”

During this process, Head Coach Greg Schiano and his staff have taken cues from Revis as to what he felt comfortable doing each weekend.

"Darrelle is a consummate pro," said Schiano. "I have nothing but faith and belief that he knows what he can do and can’t do. That’s why we give him a lot of latitude on technique, how he wants to do it, because he knows better than anybody. He’s one of the best to ever play the position and he knows what he can and can’t do. That’s kind of how we’ve gone with it since he’s arrived. It’s not that we don’t coach him, it’s not that we don’t give him scheme, we don’t tell him what we think from a rehab standpoint, all those things, but at the end of the day, an elite level athlete like Darrelle Revis – he knows what he can and can’t do.

"There are certain things you can only do from press, so we wouldn’t call it if you don’t feel comfortable doing it. I’m happy where we are now and I’m really happy the way that … everybody’s worked together to get to where we are now. He’s playing good football.”

Revis' progress isn't the only topic being discussed at Buccaneer headquarters. Here are some more thoughts from the locker room and the media studio on Friday.

Head Coach Greg Schiano

(On running back Doug Martin’s status for Sunday’s game) “Doug’s going to be out. He’s not going to make it this week.”

(On safety Dashon Goldson’s status for Sunday’s game) “I’m not sure yet. I hope [he can play], but I can’t tell you yes for sure.”

(On Martin’s the chance that Martin plays again this season) “The injury he has, if you can do your job, then you can play. He’s tough guy and he wants to play. There’s been tons of guys that have done it. Not that it means that he can, and it’s not a slight if he can’t, it’s just physiological. Can you or can’t you? Some can, some can’t.”

(On what will determine if Martin is able to come back) “Well, it’s a pain tolerance and an ability to function. Eventually he’ll need to get it repaired, so it’s a matter of [pain tolerance]”

(On the range of motion he’ looking for in Martin’s shoulder) “Just to be able to do what he’s got to do. [Director of Sports Medicine and Performance] Todd Toriscelli and his troops are taking him through the paces that you need to be able to do to get back to playing football.”

(On if they have considered shutting Martin down for the season) “Well, we wouldn’t bring him back unless he could be very effective. Like I said, he’s going to need to get it repaired, and it doesn’t make a difference if he does it now or does it at the end of the year. So if he can function, he wants to and we want him too. If he can’t function at a high level, then we’ll shut it down. But it’s not an issue of, it’s going to get worse. It’s none of those things.”

(On if he expects cornerback Danny Gorrer to play in Sunday’s game) “I’m hopeful, yeah.”

(On defensive tackle Gerald McCoy’s comments about helping opposing players up after a play) “I don’t dislike if a guy helps him up, nor am I a proponent of helping a guy up. I worked for [former Penn State Head] Coach [Joe] Paterno for six years and what I learned is you help a guy up, you look them in their eye and you say ‘I’m coming back to get you again.’ That’s just my personal [feeling] – but I think that is a totally individual thing, how you like to play the game. Certainly we don’t have a, overriding policy on how you do or don’t [help someone]. I think that’s an independent thing.”

(On if position coaches would mandate the rule of not helping a player up) “Unless I mandate something amongst our staff – I mean they can have an opinion on it, but again I’ve never said ‘Hey we don’t do that’ or something like that. I think a lot of things are said in meeting rooms, jokingly, serious, and I think this thing got a little over-the-skis a little bit. I don’t think it’s big thing.”

(On how often he stresses sportsmanship) “All the time. I think we talk about being the class of the National Football League, the way we handle ourselves, the way we travel, the way we behave on and off the field. Clean, hard penalties – as I’ve said many times to you guys – I like when guys are playing on the edge, that’s what football is about. Nonsense? You’ve seen me get very angry because I don’t buy into the nonsense. I think picking a guy up or not picking a guy up, that’s different, that’s individual choice, that’s not nonsense. Nonsense is the [jawing]. You jeopardize your team by personal feelings, that’s selfish behavior. We haven’t had that and I think our guys have done a good job with that. "

(On preparing for the additional noise at CenturyLink Field) “Well I think Atlanta being in a dome and now this – they pride themselves on the decibels and everything else. Yeah, you better be prepared for it. I think [quarterback] Mike [Glennon] has handled it well. You’ve got to make sure he doesn’t lose his voice too, battling the speakers all week. Them you get to the game and you don’t have a strong voice. I have a few tricks for that that will help Mike get ready here in the next couple of days with his voice. You laugh, but – I think it might have even been the Bucs – when I was a kid [former quarterback] Steve DeBerg had a voice box on the back – Was it the Bucs? I can’t remember. Somebody had to wear a voice enhancer in a game. You laugh about it, but it’s not [funny]. I had a quarterback one time that had a problem with his voice and we had to send him to a specialist. it was scary because if your quarterback can’t talk you’ve got problems.”

(On being more effective rushing the ball in the red zone) “We’ll take touchdowns any way we can get them, but I think the last time – we’ll take them anyway we can get them. We can run for them, we can throw for them, I don’t care. I’m not sold on ‘you impose your manhood’ – they’re men too. Just do your offense, what gives you the best chance to score on that given series. That’s what’s important to me.”

(On if he’s concerned with not rushing the ball effectively in the red zone) “The biggest thing I’m concerned about is that we’re not scoring enough touchdowns, whether we run, pass, we just need more of them.”

(On his integrity being questioned) “Coaching football is what I do. It’s what I do for a living and I love it, but it’s not who I am. The football stuff, if people don’t agree with football coaching, I understand that. The integrity stuff is a shame because it’s not true and I think there are enough people who know the truth so I feel comfortable in that. The people I care about know the truth. You can’t worry when you’re in a position like I am, a public position, you take the good with the bad and when you’re 0-7 you get a lot of bad. Is there other stuff, other factors at work? Sure there are, none of us are naïve to that. But I keep going, do what’s best for the coaching staff, the players, my family. That’s my job, as a leader, as a father, as a husband, as a head coach. That’s the way I go.”

(On being critiqued because of their 0-7 record) “Absolutely, we’re paid to win and right now we haven’t won, we’ve gone out there seven times and haven’t. At times, we’ve snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, which is really frustrating. We’ve got to go out there and win.”

(On facing the Seattle defense) “It’s going to be a challenge, for sure. This defense, as a whole, is playing really well, at a high level this year. They play well as a unit, and they do have some guys, some good size, that fly around back there in the secondary. We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re going to have to execute well, be very disciplined in our routes. These guys are physical. When you have a reputation for being a good defense, you’re going to be doing a lot of touching and stuff up the field, so we’re going to have to fight through that kind of thing and continue to just attack the ball and try to get [quarterback] Mike [Glennon] some separation and some windows.”

(On players who have filled in because of injuries) “I feel confident with all the guys we have. That’s what an organization is responsible to do, bring in guys that can come in and step in when someone goes down. We have great running backs, great receivers, great tight ends that all can make plays. These guys aren’t in the NFL for no reason. Our coaches are going to put these guys in the best position to be successful, and I’m just going to go out there and do my job and help us be successful. I think everything will work out just fine with the guys we have.”

(On the season so far) “There’s a lot of football left; that’s the way I look at it. The games that are done are done. Obviously, we haven’t had the outcome we wanted. For me, continually, it’s about the team. It’s about us winning game, and that’s what I’m working towards. Mike is continuing to get better each and every week; you can see his confidence soaring. The offensive coaches are doing a great job of getting him more confident in his calls and his recognition of defenses. I think we will as an offense, as a whole, continue to improve.”

(On Glennon) “The guy can make every throw. He is very decisive. He puts balls in places, usually, where you can make a play on it. If it’s not catchable, he’s going to throw it away. He’s not going to take a lot of chances. That just helps us as an offense – when we’re taking care of the football, we’re not giving them the ball in good field position, that’s going to make us be successful.”

(On needing to get the ball out quickly against Seattle) “It’s important. We’ve got to be strong up front, be very stout. Sometimes they’re rushing four defensive ends up front, so we know that we’ve got to get the ball out of Mike’s hands and we’ve got to protect him, keep him clean as much as possible. As receivers, we know we’ve got to create those windows as quickly as possible. It’s going to definitely be a challenge, but we’re excited. We’ve put together a great week of work, and I love our game plan. We’re excited to go up there and compete.”

(On how he thinks Glennon will handle the noise level in Seattle) “I think he’ll handle it just fine. I think what we’ve had cranked up here the last three or four days is probably going to be louder than what it’s going to be like in Seattle. We kind of need that; when you go out there on Sunday, it makes it a little bit easier. That’s what the NFL is; every time you go on the road, it’s going to be a difficult environment. I don’t expect it to be a problem for us.”

(On Seattle being the favorite to win Sunday) “We don’t care what other people predict. We’re going out there to win the game. We’re excited about the season left, the football in front of us, and everybody in this locker room is fighting for each other. We’re going to go out there and have fun and come out with the W, hopefully.”